USA > Pennsylvania > Cambria County > History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 25
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218
Walnut Grove
946
1,089
('onemaugh township
435
604
East Taylor
238
250
West Taylor
846
1,013
Upper Yoder
316
391
Lower Yoder
862
1,429
Stonycreek
285
657
12,113
14,950
1893
1894. 25,039 11,949
1896. 25,992 12,736
1899. 32,479 9,340
1901. 38.520
1903. 43,209
1905.
City .
24.544
46,938
Suburbs. .
11,600
10,009
12,113
14,950
36,144
36,988
38,728
41,819
48,529
55,322
61,888
267
HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
Total population in Cambria county :
1810
2,117
1860
29,155
1820
3,287
1870
36,569
1830
7,076
1880
46,811
1840
11,256
1890
66,375
1850
17,773
1900
104,837
The total vote in the borough and city elections :
1840
71
1880
1,149
1850
80
1890
3,654
1860
434
1899
5,715
1870
917
1902
6,346
1905
6,763
TAXABLE PROPERTY IN THE CITY.
1900.
1907.
First ward
$1,141,900
$1,295,940
Second ward
883,235
1,033,855
Third ward
1,035,505
1,324,440
Fourth ward
924,710
1,158,240
Fifth ward
737,913
871,190
Sixth ward
766,367
920,730
Seventh ward
745,429
1,270,740
Eighth ward
326,525
654,315
Ninth ward
565,490
583,400
Tenth ward
689.730
797,715
Eleventh ward
304,938
427,635
Twelfth ward
153,028
180,015
Thirteenth ward
231,490
254,140
Fourteenth ward
2,366,605
2,352,250
Fifteenth ward
312,240
437,575
Sixteenth ward
466,955
637.210
Seventeenth ward
1,167,512
1,605,545
Eighteenth ward
230,135
322,395
Nineteenth ward
236,945
273,555
Twentieth ward
367,035
394,542
Twenty-first ward
198,300
203,765
Totals
$13,851,987
$16,999,172
SURVEYS.
The Doran map of 1854 and the Brawley survey of 1859 are the two landmarks for the establishing of corners and di- vision lines. There are very few of the Doran maps in exist- ence, as they were almost all destroyed in the flood, but there are occasional copies to be seen, which are of much valne.
In pursuance of an order of the borough, John Brawley made a survey of the land lying between the two rivers, from
268
HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
the Point to Green Hill, by which the center lines of all streets and alleys and the division lines of lots were established, "and caused stone blocks to be permanently fixed in the center of the streets where they cross each other, for the purpose aforesaid." This was approved by the borough officials, and by a special act of assembly of April 11, 1859, it was confirmed and directed to be recorded, and a certified copy of it would be "sufficient evidence of the same in any court of this commonwealth."
When the employees of the Johnstown Water Company were making the excavations for their main, on the introduction of their gravity system in 1868, the stone monuments on Main street were dug up and thrown away, excepting, it is said, one near the sidewalk line at the southeast corner of Main and Bed- ford streets.
In 1893 John Downey, the city engineer, completed a map of the city, which is, with additions made by Emil Goldstein, a later city engineer, the only real survey of the city as it is now.
On the organization of the borough of Johnstown in 1831 the council met at early candlelight wherever accommodations could be found. On March 19, 1831, it met at the house of Mary Scott, and at other times at Crow's Mansion house, Graham's hotel, and the dwelling of Michael McGraw. In 1858, when there were a select and common council, these bodies met in the Osborne house, on Franklin street, opposite the Tribune build- ing. Prior to this, and also subsequently, the council had reg- ular quarters in the little old stone "lock-up," which was built in 1846, on the northeast corner of the park, opposite the Frank- lin Street Methodist Episcopal Church, and in 1872, in the public building erected on the corner of Market Square, where the new city hall stands. It had a market place on the first floor and a council room, burgess' office, and lock-up on the sec- ond. The market house was destroyed in the flood of 1889, with all the records and minute books, excepting the minutes be- ginning in 1885.
The council meetings after the flood were, like those of 1831, held wherever it would be convenient, until temporary quarters were erected on the northwest corner of Market Square. But in 1890 the city leased the second floor of the Rose building, next to the Lutheran Church, and used it for offices for all the city officials and councils, excepting the police de- partment, until the new city hall was ready for occupancy in
269
HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
October, 1902. The city hall cost $66,484.17, exclusive of the ground. and the cost of furniture about $1,000.
THE PUBLIC SQUARE.
Nestled in the heart of Johnstown is the Public Square, rich in being the one place of reminiscences of bygone days of a public nature.
It was originally a piece of ground 264 feet square, but now is 2401% feet, bounded on the north by Locust street, and on the south by Main, on the east by Franklin, and on the west by Park place.
The people who have enjoyed it for one hundred and seven years owe a debt of gratitude to Joseph Johns, the founder and the generous owner of the vicinage, for the benefits accru- ing therefrom.
When Founder Johns laid out the village of Conemaugh, on the 3d day of November, 1800, he applied his natural busi- ness qualifications, and believing that the village which he was then'starting, with its valuable natural advantages, would some day be a city of some importance, he expected, also, that his - town would be the site for the county capital, and gave the Public Square as a site for a court house.
In addition to the Public Square, he gave the people the oblong square at Market and Carr streets, for a public school and church services; the old Union graveyard, the Diamond at Main and Market streets, which in that day was considered necessary to every well established town, and "The Point" for a parade ground for the militia and public sports.
The Public Square had always been used for all popular demonstrations and play grounds from its inception to 1880, when it was completed as a park.
From the earliest period the Square seems to have been clear of trees and all vegetable matter, excepting that in the first days of its use some promiscuous shrubbery was permitted to grow along the Park place side of it.
For many years there had been a contention about the ownership of the Square, and on the 20th of May, 1880, the borough paid Daniel J. Morrell the sum of $2,000, which gave the corporation an absolute title. Mr. Morrell had purchased the claim in the interest of the borough.
It was the favorite location for the exhibitions of Dan Rice. Van Amburg, and all other circus managers until their
270
HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
modern aggregations became too large for the space; when they crossed the creek to Dibert's field, or the old race track, in what is now the Sixth ward, lying between Dibert and Mor- ris streets, now Franklin, and the Stonycreek river; and when it was abandoned and laid out in town lots, the menageries went to The Point and to Fronheiser's field in the Seventh ward.
The first circus that visited Johnstown came in 1833, and located on the Public Square. An incident occurred on that occasion which corroborates the theory of the power of an ele- phant's memory. David Ditwiller, a citizen, was among a crowd watching the animal feeding before the afternoon per- formance began, and, having dovetailed a potato skin together, after extracting the heart, held it out to "Bolivar," who took and ate it. After the circus programme had been finished, Ditwiller went back, with a large number of visitors, to see the animal. and, with remarkable quickness. "Bolivar" broke for Ditwiller, caught him, and threw him up to the roof of the tent, and, when he fell. placed his tusks over Ditwiller's body. on either side. and held him in that uncomfortable position until the keeper took the beast away.
The first building of a permanent character erected on the Square, although it was nothing more than a rough shed, sixteen by sixteen feet, and ten feet in height, was built for the housing of a hand fire engine. It was put up on the Franklin street side in 1832, nearly opposite the Union National bank.
In 1838 Thomas Sharp and Frederick Tesh, butchers, were given permission by council to build a meat market on the square, which they did, placing it a short distance north of the engine house with the entrance on Franklin street. The build- ing was sixteen by twenty feet, and was large enough to ac- commodate these two enterprising business men. It was the second building on the Square.
The fourth building was the successor to the Sharp and Tesh meat market. The village of Johnstown had prospered and in 1849 a larger and more pretentious market was needed, when the borough officials erected the second market house, on the corner of Main and Franklin streets. It was a one-story frame building, sixty feet long, with an interior space twenty feet wide and the overhanging roof extending ten feet on either side. making the entire width forty feet.
The entrance was through large doorways in the gable ends. the main doorway being off the Main street sidewalk.
271
HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
The interior, as well as the space under the projected roof, was furnished with blocks, tables, racks, and cranes, for the ac- commodation of the butchers. and divided into stalls, where most of the butchers assembled for business on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. The meat markets in that day were con-
CO AND SEE IT
Market House and Lock-up, 1865.
ducted in a very different manner from those of today. They did not have ice houses and refrigerators to keep their meats juiey and sweet as now, and in the early days one or two beeves per week was a sufficient supply for the demand. The house- keeper could not get a porterhouse or a tenderloin at any hour of the day, as now, but, on the contrary, would go to market
272
HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
at any time from 1 to 6 o'clock on market mornings to get a choice piece of meat, as the rule was "first come, first served."
Many of the grandfathers and grandmothers, fathers and mothers of today remember with delight how they played around the "old" market house, as they called it; swinging on the cranes. climbing the racks, rolling marbles on the long tables, and playing mumblety-peg on the butchers' blocks.
The old market house was a favorite place for the bill- posters to look at the notice, "Post No Bills," then put up a poster announcing that the "Fairy Queen" or the "Prince of Monte Carlo" would entertain the public in the Arcade, the hotels, or Fronheiser's hall.
On the Franklin and Main street sides of the Square would be lined up the farmers' wagons, with their fresh and crisp vegetables, and until the numerous mining towns sprung up in the country lying around the town, truck farmers drove in from Bedford, Somerset, Indiana, and Westmoreland counties, and, some from the southern portion of Clearfield county.
In 1855, when William Orr was burgess, the borough of- ficials commenced the erection of a municipal building on the Square, near the lock-up. The foundation was made for a one- story building, but the opposition to it, led by Peter Lever- good, was so strong that the idea was abandoned. The prin- cipal objection was the expense.
The second market house was taken down in 1872, when the new brick municipal and market building at the corner of Main and Market streets, was completed, which was destroyed in the flood of 1889.
The third permanent building on the Square was the little one-story stone structure on the corner of Franklin and Locust streets, standing twelve feet back from the former and about on the line of the latter, as it was then, although Locust street has since been widened.
It was the first prison in the southern portion of Cambria county, and was erected by Martin Hannan, father of the Hon. John Hannan, in 1846. Prior to its erection, it seems, there was no adequate provision made for violators of borough ordi- nances if they had no property, or would not voluntarily pay their fines, and, if it was necessary to keep a commonwealth defendant in Jolmstown over night, before starting to Ebens- burg on foot, horseback, or by wagon, the prisoner was tied in a stable or some outbuilding, and the constable, with his
273
HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
assistants, kept guard over him until daybreak, and then started with him to the county jail.
Prior to 1842, when imprisonment for debt was abolished, some of the prominent citizens of the town were victims of that unholy law and the object of relentless creditors was taken to Ebensburg because he had contracted a debt and could not pay it.
One very prominent citizen refused to go. The constable had his commitment and the Shylock urged its execution. The debtor was placed on a horse and his feet tied together there- under. He could not get off, but he could and did turn his body under the horse. The constable had no authority to injure a prisoner under such circumstances and the result was that the debtor did not go to jail.
The lock-up was divided lengthwise, with its door opening off Franklin street. One window in front and one at either end opened into the front apartment, which was the office of the burgess and the council room. The rear portion was divided into two cells, with no window except a barred opening in the door, through which the prisoner in the front cell could observe and hear the proceedings before the burgess and the action of council.
The minutes of the council contain evidence that the bur- gess' office at one time needed to be supplied with a table and "seven chairs, one of them with arms."
The entrance to the second or dark cell was through the first cell, and was rather a dismal place. Subsequently these were changed, and the rear portion was made into four cells, opening into the burgess' office, but the window in the southerly end was closed, and little openings under the eaves were made in the wall.
The "lock-up," as it was always called, was the last perma- nent building placed on the public square until the erection of the music pavilion in 1891, which, however, was removed in 1906. The "lock-up" was taken off the square in 1873, which was then cleared of all buildings, and was thereafter used as a play-ground and for public demonstrations until converted into a. park in 1880, although trees had been planted and walks laid out prior to that time.
In addition to these permanent buildings, temporary struct- ures were sometimes permitted to be located thereon.
A daguerreotype room occupied a small space below the Vol. I-18
274
HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
market house, fronting on Main street. It was known as the "picture gallery," as "daguerreotype" was most too difficult for popular pronunciation, and the photographic process had not been introduced.
PUBLIC MEETINGS.
The Public Square was the popular place for political meet- ings. The Democrats, the Whigs and the Republicans used it, and sometimes two parties occupied it on the same day or even- ing. The Whigs, or Republicans, would have a platform near the market house, facing toward Locust street, and the Demo- crats theirs near the lock-up, facing Main street. At other times there would be but one platform, which both parties would use at their convenience. During the war a platform was erected near where the G. A. R. hall now stands, and from which many Union speeches were made, and there the departing and returning "Boys in Blue" were entertained and received.
The boys and girls were always certain of having a bonfire on the Square when the election returns were announced, no matter which party succeeded. Tar barrels, boxes, crates and wood of every description-many front doorsteps and gates even were missing-would be piled in the center of the square, and at dusk the match applied.
Before the "electro-magnetic telegraph" was brought to town, in 1851, election returns were somewhat tardy, and our people depended on the packet boats and Portage cars to bring the latest news.
The Public Square was the place where the quack doctor, the soap dealer, the razor sharpener and fakir of every descrip- tion plied his vocation and where the flim-flammer would con- vert a ten-dollar bill into a one-dollar note in making change for the unsuspecting ones.
Many prominent men of national reputation have made speeches on the Public Square -- Andrew G. Curtin, governor; John Covode, congressman; Colonel A. K. McClure, state sen- ator and editor; Lorenzo Danford, congressman; William Big- ler, governor; Heister Clymer, congressman and candidate for governor; George Francis Train, philosopher; Carl Schurz, general and senator; Morton McMichael, mayor of Philadel- phia and editor; Francis Jordan, secretary of the common- wealth; Lewis W. Hall, congressman; W. H. Kountz, congress- man ; S. S. Blair, congressman, and John W. Geary, general and governor, the latter of whom also resided in this town, in 1841,
275
HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
in a dwelling on Canal street, above the residence of the late John Ryan. In addition to these gentlemen, who made their addresses on the Square, George Mifflin Dallas, vice-president, shortly after he cast the deciding vote for the Free Trade Bill in 1846, made a speech at the "Bennett House," where St. John's Catholic Church now stands, as did Richard M. Johnson. vice-president under Van Buren; also R. B. Hayes, who was subsequently elected president. and James G. Blaine, in 1886, were here, and President Harrison, who, with Mrs. Harrison and party, spent a few hours in the city in 1890. Winfield Scott and Horace Greeley spoke in this place in their presidential can- vasses. President Johnston, General U. S. Grant, Admiral David G. Farragut, and Secretary of State William II. Seward arrived at the Pennsylvania Station about 11 o'clock, Septem- ber 14, 1866. An immense audience was awaiting them, when Senator Edgar Cowan introduced the president, but before he began to speak the platform fell, causing the death of three persons and injuring three hundred and eighty-eight.
THE CAMPAIGN OF 1840.
The presidential election when Harrison and Van Buren were the candidates was close, something like the Hayes-Tilden affair. In 1876, when we had the telegraph, it was reported Hayes one day and Tilden the next; but in 1840 it was Har- rison one week and Van Buren the next, and here it was not known that Harrison was elected until cold weather had come; then there was a big time on the Square-bonfires, speeches and parades. One of the prominent celebrants was Old Daddy William Cole, who served his years of hardship with Wash- ington in the Revolutionary war. Dressed for the occasion, he was the principal guest of the town. He was also present at the Fourth of July celebration in 1842, when the day's exercises were held in the Public Square, and was the hero of that day which he had helped to make one of rejoicing. Daddy Cole, who lived alone in what is now Morrellville, has been dead for many, many years.
ATLANTIC CABLE.
Of the many demonstrations of a public nature held on the square, one of the most popular and enthusiastic was the cele- bration of the laying of the Atlantic cable, in August, 1858.
Of that event the Tribune of August 21, 1858, says that "on Monday evening last the Queen's message of congratulation
276
HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
to President Buchanan was received by telegraph," whereupon the previous demonstration arranged in anticipation of the event was commenced. "A great bonfire was kindled in the center of the Public Square, while the fence surrounding it was studded with lighted candles, and crowds of men, women and children flocked to the scene. All the bells in town united in ringing out a merry peal. The fire apparatus was brought out and illumined with candles, and drawn through the principal street amid the shouts of the populace and the strains of rich music."
At that time a post and "top-rail" fence surrounded the Square, having been put up by the municipal authorities to pre- vent unlawful trespassing. On this top rail three nails were driven in a group, and these groups placed about twelve inches apart around the Square. The candles placed in each of the holders thus made were lighted when twilight had passed, and the bonfire in the center of the Square was started ablazing.
In 1860 the Union hall, but known as Zouave hall, was erected on the lot now owned by John Fulton and W. B. Tice. It was headquarters for the militia and the Union soldiers and the Square was the drilling ground. On the 24th of December, 1863, while the Catholic congregations, with a splendid exhibit, were conducting a fair within the hall, the building and its con- tents were destroyed by fire.
The first hay scales were erected in 1837 on Main street, in front of the present site of Hohmann's music store. Adam Fockler was the weighmaster, but in 1855 it was moved to the east side of the Square, on Franklin street, and twenty years later it was removed to the present location on Vine street.
In the sixties the Hon. Robert S. Frazer, of Pittsburg, a president judge on the common pleas bench, then in his youthful days, was a clerk in his father's drug store, and one of the many persons who attended to the scales. When the hay dealer brought in a load of hay on a wet day it was Mr. Frazer's duty to go across the street in the rain to weigh it. Such instances impressed themselves upon him, and he declared that there was always more hay to be weighed on wet days than at any other time.
Subsequently an office, about six by eight feet, was placed at the northerly end of the market house for the weigh office, where Henry Kratzer was weighmaster.
When baseball became the national game, in the sixties, the
277
HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
public square was a favorite place for the "Kickenapawlings" and the "Iron" clubs to practice. It was not large enough for a game, but a splendid place for throwing, catching and some batting. The batter and catcher stood in the rear of the market house and batted toward the G. A. R. hall. The late Captain William R. Jones was an enthusiastic player, and when the "heats" would be nearly done he would go around the mill and quietly tell a player that he thought the work was about over and that they would have a little game; one by one the players would leave, and in a short time there would be two nines on the Public Square ready for business.
William Callan, the contractor for the municipal building, finished it in 1872, and in the following year the old buildings were removed and a landscape engineer laid out the ground in walks. The Public Square, which had been so long a favorite place for everyone, from the little ones who wanted to play "ring-around-rosy," to the politicians who used it for great popular demonstrations, was a thing of the past.
In 1874 the officials of the borough had it laid out in straight diagonal walks, from corner to corner, with serpentine footways between them in a circle around the fountain, which stood in the center of the park and at equal distance from the corners on the two main walks. There were twenty-four silver maple trees planted on the four sides, within the park, and between these and the respective walks and the fountain were planted other species of trees.
The trees planted within the Public Square, in addition to the twenty-four water maples, were ten American mountain ash. ten Norway maples, eight horse chestnuts, four American lindens, and four American white elms-sixty-four trees in all.
The fountain in the center was adorned with a half dozen galvanized iron swans, but it was not satisfactory and was removed.
In 1876 the council planted thirteen trees, to represent the original thirteen states, on the Main and Franklin street sides of the Square, with "Pennsylvania" on the corner. At that time there were eighteen councilmen, and they, with some of the other officials, planted a "Morrell" tree, a "Kennedy," a "Kountz" or a "Speedy" tree, as it might be, around the Locust street and Court place sides.
In 1885, when the trees within had prospered and were beau- tiful in shape and for shadow, park seats were placed about
278
HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
them, making the place a great resort for men, women and chil- dren. But after fifteen years of care and skillful attention, and when the trees were beginning to spread their branches and break the hot rays of the sun on the tired visitor, the flood of May 31, 1889, swept the spot clear and clean, and debris ten to nfteen feet deep rested thereon. Atter the flood the Public Square was agam in use for bontires, not for elation, but for the destruction of inflammable rubbish and the cleaning up of the streets.
When the people endeavored to commence business, after the destruction of the city in that great catastrophe, there were very few storerooms or offices available, and in July, 1889, the Flood Relief Commission constructed two-story frame build- ings on the four sides of the Square, facing the respective streets.
But in the summer of 1890, after the several boroughs had been incorporated into the City of Johnstown, these buildings were removed, and a park commission, consisting of Dr. John Lowman, Charles Kress and John Fulton, was appointed by Mayor Kose, who had the Square again prepared for park pur- poses. It is now controlled by the city, through the Park Com- mission.
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